Professor Roy Green

Biography

Roy Green is Dean of the UTS Business School at the University of Technology Sydney. Roy graduated with first class honours from the University of Adelaide and gained a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he was also a Research Fellow. He has worked in universities, business and government in Australia and overseas, including as Dean of the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and the Business School at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Roy has advised and published widely in the areas of innovation policy and management as well as trends in business education. He has undertaken research projects with the OECD, European Commission and Enterprise Ireland.

This chapter explores the management strategies adopted by manufacturing firms operating in high versus low cost economies and investigates the reasons for differences in the management practice choices. The study reported in this chapter identifies a subset of countries that have either high or low labour costs, with USA, Sweden, and Japan being high, and India, China, and Brazil being low labour cost economies. The high labour cost manufacturing firms are found to have better management practices. In this chapter, the authors find that Australia and New Zealand manufacturing firms face relatively high labour cost but lag behind world best practice in management performance. The chapter concludes by highlighting the need for improvement in management capability for Australian and New Zealand manufacturing firms if they are to experience a reinvigoration of productivity, competitiveness, and long-term growth.

The regional dimension of innovation in a global competitive environment is attracting increased interest among both researchers and policy-makers as regional econo mies are recog nised as 'sites of the most advanced forms of economic development and innovation' (Storper, 2003: 580). This chapter examines the rece nt emergence of the highly successful med ical technology cluste r in Galway, Ireland - now the biggest conce ntration of medical technology employment in Europe - in the context of the growing literature on industrial cluste rs, its further evolution as systems of innovation and the related emphasis on the role and 'embeddedness' of FDI in these systems at a regional level. The literature would suggest that regions are ' synergy-laden' systems whose innovat ive activity and capacity are determined largely by ' the set of organisations and linkages present for the generation, diffusion and application of scientific and technological know ledge' (Ga lli and Teube l, 1997: 345) , which can pos ition, or reposition, regions on specific tech nolog ical trajec tor ies.

Green, R. & Lafoucriere, C. 2006, 'Social Dialogue as a Regulatory Mode of the ESM:Some Empirical Evidence from the New Member States' in Jepsen, M. & Pascual, S. (eds), Unwrapping the European Social Model, Policy Press.

The June 1998 European Council summit under the UK presidency in Cardiff initiated an ambitious process of reform of national product and capital markets, which may also have implications for the structure and performance of labour markets. The rationale for the 'Cardiff process' of structural reform lay, first, in the need to respond in a coherent way to the pressures of globalisation and the 'single market' in Europe and, second, in the claimed superiority of US economic performance during the 1990s, which was explained by flexible and liberalised markets, especially in relation to pay, working conditions and labour mobility. At the time, this explanation not only passed unchallenged in public policy debate, but was explicitly incorporated into a Blair-Schroder joint document on the 'third way'. Moreover, it was observed that Europe, by contrast, had been experiencing lower growth and higher unemployment, which was attributed to state ownership of public utilities, lack of competition in product and capital markets, generous social benefits and inflexible labour markets.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of managers in management innovation based on existing literature and recent experience in large organisations in Australia. Despite the dramatic rise in interest in innovation, an increased awareness in management innovation focusing on management principles and practices has certainly reconceptualised the essence of innovation and its processes. As the management innovation theory is advancing, managers play a vital role in management innovation to make radical improvements. This paper provides insight into the role of managers and presents a theoretical model depicting the role of managers in management innovation in large organisations. A specific set of leadership and facilitation skills are required for managers to foster management innovation in organisations. The role of managers is explained in this paper using references to the Swiss Cheese Model?. This risk management model has been used to explain how major incidents happen when deficiencies in safety systems are aligned; and in a similar vein the role of managers at various levels of an organisation can influence management innovation by aligning issues and opportunities to idea generation, creativity and dynamic capabilities. This requires specific leadership and influencing skills explained in this paper.

Whilst many studies have focused on the adoption of individual or sets of innovative management practices (e.g. lean production), fewer studies have evaluated a diverse set of management practices and firm contextual factors which may limit (or enable) the accumulation of groups of innovations in organisations. The Australian manufacturing sector is a novel setting to investigate such issues due to, among other reasons, a protracted decline of the competitive position of the sector. In this paper, we use a data-set from the Australian government funded management practices benchmarking project which was part of the World Management Survey and empirically evaluate why some companies have more innovative management practices than others. The conceptual model developed draws mainly on innovation diffusion theory and prior empirical findings. We find that (1) firms which adopt clusters of better management practices have greater performance; and (2) several firm characteristics explain the adoption of better management practices, such as education level of employees and managers, firm size, ownership by a multinational firm, and diffused ownership structure. The study has practical implications for policy-makers and stakeholders who are interested in supporting the adoption of better management practices by firms to enhance productivity in the manufacturing sector.

This paper addresses the Special Issue call for Australian examples of innovative management systems that enable the production of successful products by drawing on a single case study: medical device manufacturer Cochlear. Through qualitative case study methodology, we examine the human resource management practices that complemented the implementation of lean manufacturing principles. We argue that in their implementation, Cochlears management team enriched the traditional understanding of lean and its focus on waste reduction, low cost and quality assurance by adopting people management practices as an integrated component of the overall management capability which allowed their people to grow and develop. The combination of lean and HR practices transformed Cochlear to a high-performance work system and positively impacted production processes and output. By examining a medical device manufacturer, an under-researched sector, our paper expands existing literature on lean manufacturing and provides implications for practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to undertake a survey of the external and internal forces changing the nature of business schools and business education. It aims to investigate how management education responds to increasing productivity, innovation and capability challenges, examine how MBA programs currently meet these demands, and how these courses might redefine their identity and delivery, and finally explore how to deepen engagement between business schools and business stakeholders, and to balance the imperatives of relevance and quality.

A large body of research in recent years has resulted in the accumulation of knowledge about better (worse) management practices for manufacturing firms. Given the wide dissemination of knowledge about practices such as Lean Manufacturing, the importance of goal-setting, performance management systems, employee promotion and reward structures, it is unclear why some firms do not adopt these broad-based management practices. If there are management practices that have the potential to universally increase productivity of manufacturing firms, their lack of adoption by all firms in such markets remains a pertinent question. New Zealand is a small open economy facing competitive pressure from both its geographical distance from large markets and its minimum wage, which is above key international competitors. In this context we use a novel survey tool designed by Bloom and Van Reenen (2007) and McKinsey & Co. to construct a Management Practices Score (MPS) based on 18 management practices from 152 medium- and large-sized New Zealand manufacturing firms. We find that the MPS is positively associated with various firm productivity performance indicators, particularly profit per employee and firm sales, indicating that the MPS captures relevant information about management practices. We find that firm size, ownership structure, and the level of education among both managers and non-managers positively impacts management performance. Unlike the findings in earlier international research, we find that competition does not have an association with management practices. The findings here contribute to understanding why best management practices are not universally adopted by manufacturing firms. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Discussion of new policy directions in recent years has been strongly influenced by New York Times journalist Tom Friedman's much cited book, The World is Flat. Friedman was referring to a 'globalised' world economy where increasing interconnectedness among people and businesses is driven by the changing shape of markets, organisations and institutions, as well as new developments in information and communications technologies

While temporary agency work possesses several conceptual and empirical challenges for researchers, it also poses challenges for regulators. This paper considers some of these challenges concerning various definitions, classifications and measurement of temporary work while comparing the Australian and Irish experience. It is concluded that while agency work in Ireland and Australia is modest, it is growing, and the conceptual and empirical problems associated with its under-recording pose difficulties for the design and implementation of a regulatory code for this sector.

The Future of Management Education initiative is being undertaken by the Australian Business Deans Council with funding support from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) under its Workforce Innovation Program. The Scoping Paper will be the basis of a broad consultation exercise which will encompass two workshops with business leaders in Sydney and Melbourne. The initiative proposal was supported by key industry and professional associations, including AiG, B-HERT, ICAA and Society for Knowledge Economics, and now has the additional participation of the BCA, ACCI, AIM, CPA Australia, AHRI, APESMA, AMI and the Australian Business Foundation. The consultation exercise will be followed by a call for expressions of interest by business schools to participate in `innovative practice trials, which enable the development and delivery of new curriculum and learning concepts. The results will be summarised in a final report in 2013 with a view to disseminating and diffusing best practice in business and management education. A Project Steering Committee is in the process of being established with key stakeholders in the initiative, including DIISRTE, and a Project Management Group is also being established, comprising interested ABDC deans and the Lead Project Consultant. Roy Green, Project Director (University of Technology Sydney) Richard Hall, Lead Project Consultant (University of Sydney) Renu Agarwal, Research Consultant (University of Technology Sydney)

Green, R., Fisher, L. & Agarwal, R. 2012, Management and Workforce Skills and Talent Report, Joint research report by the Australian Industry Group and the University of Technology Sydney, prepared for the Department of Business and Innovation, Victoria.

This report is the background report (part 2) of the research on human resource management in Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms is an extension of the Australian Management Practices (AMP) Research commissioned by Enterprise Connect, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in 2009. The previous AMP research was based on interviews conducted with 439 medium and large-sized manufacturing firms in Australia through structured conversational interviews which examined their management practices across eighteen different dimensions, corresponding to three broad areas of management - operations, performance and people. Enterprise Connect engaged the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to conduct an extension research to examine the area of human resource management (HRM) in greater detail. The objective of this research is to identify HRM best practices and better understand the main reasons why Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms lag behind other countries in the area of people management. This research study employs qualitative research methodology to gain rich insights into the HRM practices adopted by medium-sized Australian manufacturing firms and compares groups of best-, average- and worst-performers in the area of people management, based on the people management score attained in the original AMP research.

Agarwal, R. & Green, R. NCVER 2011, The role of education and skills in Australian management practice and productivity, Fostering enterprise: the innovation and skills nexus - Research readings, pp. 79-102, Melbourne, Australia.

The main impetus for the interest in innovation is that it is seen to improve productivity at the firm level and therefore improved economic prosperity and living standards. This edited volume was commissioned by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations. The authors contribute a variety of views on innovation from different perspectives. Some of the main themes running throughout the book are reasons for firms innovating, the skills required for innovation and how innovation and skills development is supported by the training system, the firm and government. Innovation is seen as moving beyond research and development, to include new products, services and operational/organisational processes.

This is the background report for the research on historical dynamic capability building is an extension of the Australian Management Practices (AMP) Research commissioned by Enterprise Connect, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in 2009. The earlier AMP research was based on conversational interviews conducted with 439 medium and large-sized manufacturing firms in Australia which examined firm management practices across eighteen different dimensions, corresponding to three broad areas of management operations, performance and people. The AMP research demonstrated that strong management practices lead to enhanced performance and productivity within manufacturing firms and identified skills and capability as key determinants of high management performance in firms. Enterprise Connect engaged the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to conduct case study based qualitative methods to gain deeper insights into the historical dynamic capability building within medium-sized manufacturing firms. The selection of firms for this study was based on the overall management score attained in the original AMP research of Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms. This research aspires to highlight the best practices adopted in fostering dynamic capabilities with the aim of addressing the following research question: What are the key capabilities, patterns of capability-building processes, enablers/inhibitors of capability building and their linkages to success among medium-sized Australian manufacturing firms??

This research on human resource management in Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms is an extension of the Australian Management Practices (AMP) Research commissioned by Enterprise Connect, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in 2009. The previous AMP research was based on interviews conducted with 439 medium and large-sized manufacturing firms in Australia through structured conversational interviews which examined their management practices across eighteen different dimensions, corresponding to three broad areas of management - operations, performance and people. Enterprise Connect engaged the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to conduct an extension research to examine the area of human resource management (HRM) in greater detail. The objective of this research is to identify HRM best practices and better understand the main reasons why Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms lag behind other countries in the area of people management. This research study employs qualitative research methodology to gain rich insights into the HRM practices adopted by medium-sized Australian manufacturing firms and compares groups of best, average and worst performers in the area of people management, based on the people management score attained in the original AMP research.

The manufacturing sector is strategically important to the Victorian economy as a source of jobs, exports, investments, innovation, and research and development. Despite its declining share of national and state output, manufacturing remains the second-largest sector in the Victorian economy. The starting point for this research report, prepared by the Australian Industry Group in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney, is that effective management practices, skills and capabilities have the potential to drive productivity, innovation and competitiveness in the Victorian manufacturing sector. The sector is dependent on the availability of a skilled workforce which is able to adapt and respond to the significant challenges it faces. These challenges include the shift to higher-level skills driven by the introduction of new technologies and the demands of global competition, the recruitment and retention challenges that come from other sectors hungry for skills, such as the resources sector, and the challenges that flow from a wide public perception that manufacturing is a sector at risk. The essential questions addressed are: To what extent are skills and talent critical to the competitiveness of Victorias manufacturing industry? How are skills and training requirements changing with the needs of industry? How important are management and strategic capabilities to global competitiveness for Victorian manufacturers? Sitting behind those questions are a multitude of issues, many of which are canvassed in the report. The research has been undertaken from an industry perspective. The guiding questions have been: What are the needs of industry? And what is important to enterprises and what would make a difference? The aim of this report is to make comment on the skilling system from the perspective of where it intersects with industry and enterprises.

The health of the population of New South Wales is a fundamental objective of state and federal governments in Australia. NSW Healths Strategic Plan notes that health promotion, better management of health systems and medical advances have all contributed over recent years to improvements in health outcomes. However, it is also recognised in current reform initiatives and proposals that major challenges remain in achieving higher standards in the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare delivery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and benchmark the performance of management at the level of the individual hospital the key organisational unit of system-wide performance and productivity. The study by the University of Technology, Sydney is part of a global survey of health management practices led by a research team from the London School of Economics and Stanford University, covering management practices in hospitals across seven other countries. The NSW Health study replicates the methodology of the global survey in the collection and analysis of data from 116 NSW public hospital personnel with a particular focus on cardiology and orthopaedics. The main finding of the study is that, measured across 21 dimensions of performance, the management of NSW public hospitals ranks fifth out of the group of countries, with a longer tail of poor performing hospitals than the global leaders. The study suggests that improving management practice in NSW hospitals, especially in the area of people management, would be a cost-effective way of lifting the performance of the healthcare system as a whole. Significantly, there is considerable variance in management quality and performance across NSW public hospitals, relating not only to the size and autonomy of hospitals but also to the level of education and skills among hospital managers. A key implication of our study for the health reform process is that reform efforts targeted exclusively to system-wide ef...

This research on historical dynamic capability building is an extension of the Australian Management Practices (AMP) Research commissioned by Enterprise Connect, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in 2009. The earlier AMP research was based on conversational interviews conducted with 439 medium and large-sized manufacturing firms in Australia which examined firm management practices across eighteen different dimensions, corresponding to three broad areas of management operations, performance and people. The AMP research demonstrated that strong management practices lead to enhanced performance and productivity within manufacturing firms and identified skills and capability as key determinants of high management performance in firms. Enterprise Connect engaged the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to conduct case study based qualitative methods to gain deeper insights into the historical dynamic capability building within medium-sized manufacturing firms. The selection of firms for this study was based on the overall management score attained in the original AMP research of Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms. This research aspires to highlight the best practices adopted in fostering dynamic capabilities with the aim of addressing the following research question: What are the key capabilities, patterns of capability-building processes, enablers/inhibitors of capability building and their linkages to success among medium-sized Australian manufacturing firms??

This is the literature review for the research on human resource management in Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms is an extension of the Australian Management Practices (AMP) Research commissioned by Enterprise Connect, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in 2009. The previous AMP research was based on interviews conducted with 439 medium and large-sized manufacturing firms in Australia through structured conversational interviews which examined their management practices across eighteen different dimensions, corresponding to three broad areas of management operations, performance and people. Enterprise Connect engaged the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to conduct an extension research to examine the area of human resource management (HRM) in greater detail. The objective of this research is to identify HRM best practices and better understand the main reasons why Australian medium-sized manufacturing firms lag behind other countries in the area of people management. This research study employs qualitative research methodology to gain rich insights into the HRM practices adopted by medium-sized Australian manufacturing firms and compares groups of best, average and worst performers in the area of people management, based on the people management score attained in the original AMP research.

This paper benchmarks management practices in New Zealand manufacturing firms against the global best. The project was undertaken by a research team from the University of Technology Sydney and is part of a world-wide study led by the London School of Economics and McKinsey & Co. The findings suggest that while some of New Zealands firms are as good as any in the world, there is a substantial tail of firms that are mediocre, especially in their approach to people management. This is a key differentiating factor between New Zealand and better performing, more innovative countries, and it echoes similar recent findings for Australian manufacturers. The research findings also suggest that there is a link between the quality of management scored across 18 dimensions of people, performance and operations and enterprise productivity. This study suggests that New Zealand manufacturing firms need to improve the management performance to build longer-term competitive advantage. It reveals that some management practices represent opportunities for improvement for these manufacturing firms. The study demonstrates that a cost-effective way of improving the productivity performance of New Zealand firms is to promote a transformation in the calibre of the management and leadership of its organisations. This is the key to a more innovative, dynamic and sustainable economy into the future.

Green, R., Rathinam, M., Agarwal, R. & Liyanage, S. 2011, Role of Managers in Management Innovation in Large Organisation, EURAM Conference on Management Innovation - A Journey into the Core of Research Management, Rotterdam.

This study has its starting point in the emergence of a 'creative hub' of business and community activity in sydney's vibrant, multi-cultural area around Broadway and between Pyrmont and Surry Hills. This activity encompasses digital media and advertising, film and television, architecture and planning and fashion and design, and its internal dynamic of growth and innovation is increasingly reinforced by development of social networks and collaboration. The study asks what can be done to facilitate the growth and diffusion of this activity, including the opportunities for collaboration, and how can education and skill providers best contribute to build innovative potential and capability in firms and organisations to maximise their sustainable economic and social impact.

Green, R. & Westacott, J. 2010, Report to Government, Report of Public Sector Performance Commission, Government of South Australia, Adelaide.

This unique research project for the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research benchmarks management practices in Australian manufacturing firms against the global best. The project was undertaken by a research team from the University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie Graduate School of Management and the Society of Knowledge Economics, and is part of a world-wide study led by the London School of Economics, Stanford University and McKinsey & Co. The findings suggest that while some of our firms are as good as any in the world, we still have a substantial `tail of firms that are mediocre, especially in their approach to people management. This is a key differentiating factor between Australia and better performing, more innovative countries.